Perhaps one of the wonkiest activities as a nonpartisan think tank is submitting comments in the rulemaking process, both at the state and federal levels. Right now, there is an opportunity to comment on some significant changes proposed for the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Last month, the Administration for Children and...
By: Dylan Armstrong, Public Policy Fellow and Tara Britton, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy | Edward D. and Dorothy E. Lynde Fellow The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ (JFS) mission is to improve the well-being of Ohio’s workforce and families by promoting economic self-sufficiency and ensuring the safety of Ohio’s most vulnerable...
It feels like Groundhog Day with the debate going on in Washington D.C. over the federal debt limit. We’ve been here before, right? While negotiations are ongoing (and could be in a more solid place, considering this was written last week), you have likely heard about some health and human service-related policies that are “on...
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden and his Congressional allies included a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act that, in effect, reversed 25 years of policy created by welfare reform legislation passed – in August, 1996. New York Times reporter Jason DeParle described it as a “break with a quarter century of policy.”[1] It...
In late July, Governor Mike DeWine issued two executive orders laying out the allocation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding through the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GOFBCI). The two orders identified funding recipients through GOFBCI for state fiscal years 2022 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022) and 2023 (July 1, 2022-June...
Heading into the 2020-21 state budget, The Center for Community Solutions closely examined the cause behind declining enrollment in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a larger proportion of the TANF caseload consisting of child-only cases (where children are living with another relative who isn’t their parent and receive cash assistance) and the...
This year, we will reflect on a major milestone in social welfare history known as welfare reform. Enacted in 1996, TANF, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, provides minimal cash assistance for very poor families with children, and funds other programs and services that aim to promote self-sufficiency. TANF replaced Aid to Families with Dependent...
About a year ago I did something that I hadn’t done before. I came back to work at an organization I had left at the end of 2007 — The Center for Community Solutions. I was fortunate enough to return as the President and Executive Director. During my previous time at CCS, I had worked...
